Longitudinally adjustable draft device



Jan. 26, 1954 A. M. OTJEN 2,667,366

LONGITUDINALLY ADJUSTABLE DRAFT DEVICE Filed Oct. 2, 1950 INVENTOR.

Patented Jan. 26, 1954 OFFICE LONGITUDINALLY ADJUSTABLE DRAFT VICEAlbert M. Otjen, Madison,'Nebr.

Application October 2, 1950, Serial No. 187,910

1 Claim. 1

My invention relates to a tractor and horse drawn hitch.

An object of my invention is toprovide a hitch which can be attached toany type of tractor for drawing purposes, and which also can be extendedto be used as a tongue for horse drawn purposes.

A further object of my invention is to provide an arrangement which willallow convenient attachment to a tractor regardless of the position ofthe tractor, and which will then be firmly secured automatically uponreverse motion of the tractor.

A further object of my invention is to provide an automatic attachment,which can. be adjusted to accommodate various drawn equipment andwherein the variations of tongues on this equipment will be readilyaccommodated.

A further object of my invention is to provide means whereby theautomatic locking arrangement can be manipulated remotely from the hitchitself.

With these and other objects in view, my invention consists in theconstruction, arrangement, and combination of the various parts of mydevice, whereby the objects contemplated are attained, as hereinaftermore fully set forth, pointed out in my claim, and illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a plan View of the hitch when being used as a horse drawndevice,

Figure 2 is an enlarged detail, and

Figure 3 is a sectional View of Figure 2 taken along the lines 33thereof.

I have used the character iii to designate a circular pipe having theyoke portion i I for attachment at I 2 to a tractor if desired, the pipeID having a series of spaced openings i3 therein.

The pipe H3 is rigidly secured to and within a hollow square short tubeM, which short tube is is slidably received within the further femalesquare tube i5. Rigidly secured within the tube 15 is a further squaretube it; which is of substantially the same dimensions as the tube [4,the tube H5 having an opening at i! for the reception of a pin I8, whichpin it also passes through the member 15, which pin 1 S is pivotallyattached by means of a transverse pin [9 to a lever member 2B, the pinI9 also passing through a further short bar 2| which is attached to thelever 29.

The lever member 20 is pivotally secured at 22 within a keeper 23 whichis attached at 24 to the hollow tube I 5.

Secured to the member I 5 is a further substantially U-shaped keepermember 25 including an opening 26 for the reception of the pin l8, andpositioned between the top of the member 25 and the lever 20 andreceiving the pin [8 is the compression spring 21. Pivotally secured at28 to the lever 20 is the circular link 29 to which is attached by meansof the snap arrangement 30 a control cable 3| which can pass to thewagon, or if desired, to the tractor.

Attached at 32 to the tube [5 are the various members 33 secured bymeans of the bolts 34,,

these members serving to provide means for attachment to the varioustongue portions of a wagon. The arrangement can thus be used to draw awagon by means of a tractor draw-bar by attachment at the point I2 asexplained, or if desired the necessary attachments can also be made atl2 whereby these attachments can be attached to horses for drawing thewagon. By virtue of the length of the members [0 and 15, the arrangementcan then be accommodated to the horses readily, and as explained above,if desired, the wagon can be tractor drawn.

It will be noted that in either use, the hitch need not be positionedaccurately with respect to the drawn vehicle, since the spring 2'! willcause the pin l8 to snap into the opening upon movement of the tractoror horses, thereby providing a convenient locking arrangement.

The member 5 and pipe l0 can not become displaced with respect to eachother due to the locking feature of the member [4 abutting against themember it.

Also, the arrangement can be used at any extended position byaccommodating the hitch to any of the openings l3, so that therefore theunit can be adjusted longitudinally to be accommodated to any type ofequipment where such adjustment is necessary, such equipment being, forinstance, corn pickers or the like.

As stated above, the cable 3| can then be used to lift the lever 20 toprovide a ready control where desired.

It will now be seen that I have provided the various advantages setforth in the objects of my invention with'various other advantages beingreadily apparent.

Some changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of theparts of my invenvention without departing from the real spirit andpurpose of my invention, and it is my intention to cover by my claim anymodified forms of structure or use of mechanical equivalents which maybe reasonably included Within its scope.

I claim as my invention: a

An adjustable tractor and horse drawn hitch comprising a female tubesection, a male tube section slidably engaged with said female section,said male tube section having a plurality of openings therein, a pinpassing through said female tube section for engagement with any of saidopenings, a lengthened horizontal lever member pivotally attached tosaid pin, said lever member being pivoted to the forward end of saidfemale tube section, a keeper straddling said pin and receiving thesame, a spring positioned between the top of said keeper and said levermember for forcing said pin downwardly, a cable attached at the reartermination of said lever memher for controlling the lever member, saidfemale tube including an abutment member rigidly attached therein, afurther abutment member at- 4 tached to the termination of said maletube, said abutment members preventing separation of said male andfemale members.

ALBERT M. O- IJEN.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 1,066,735 Kime July 8, 1913 71,068,334 Goodhue July 22, 19132,327,308 Johnston Aug. 17, 1943 2,366,294 Stringer Jan. 2, 19452,404,521 Myers July 23, 1946 2,428,226 Jones Sept. 30, 1947 2,457,745Suess Dec. 28, 1948 Potter Sept. 26, 1950

